Wednesday, September 21, 2011

National White Chocolate Day!

By Diane Forrest,

Is anybody else having chocolate withdrawal symptoms? Seems like forever since we had a "chocolate day". Ok…so it's only been 10 days since chocolate milkshake day, but that is still a long time! Luckily, today is National White Chocolate Day!

White chocolate is a confectionery derivative of chocolate. It commonly consists of cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids and salt, and is characterized by a pale yellow or ivory appearance. It is made the same way Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate are made; it lacks cocoa paste, liquor or powder.

My stepson's wife doesn't like chocolate - must be some kind of birth defect or something. However she loves white chocolate. Since it is hard to find candy to fill her Christmas stocking or Easter basket, most of her treats have to be homemade. Some of these treats include White chocolate macadamia nut cookies, white chocolate covered popcorn, and white chocolate covered pretzels. Making the pretzels is pretty easy to do. The following recipe says to dip them halfway, however I have started pouring the pretzels in the pot, stirring them all up coating them with the chocolate, and then I put on my latex medical gloves and take them out to lay on the wax paper. These are fun to make, and you can wrap them in cute containers for Christmas gifts for friends and neighbors. (no, I am NOT Martha Stewart!)

Since today is White Chocolate Day, you have the perfect excuse to indulge in chocolate once again.

White Chocolate Pretzels

Ingredients

6 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate

1 (15 ounce) package mini twist pretzels

1/4 cup red and green candy sprinkles (optional)

Directions

Melt white chocolate in the top of a double boiler, stirring constantly.

Dip pretzel halfway into the white chocolate, completely covering half of the pretzel. Roll in topping if desired, and lay on wax paper.

Continue the process until all of the white chocolate is finished. Place in refrigerator for 15 minutes to harden. Store in airtight container